Local Foodies Banding Together

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Sep 13, 2007 3:30PM

We know from experience that local foodies can be a vocal and opinionated lot. Two new groups are now looking at adding their input to the discourse.

The Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, according to their mission statement, is "dedicated to celebrating, exploring, and preserving unique food traditions and their cultural contexts in the American Midwest." They plan on supporting the mission with public events, developing archival resources, and creating print publications. Their inaugural event, focusing on Midwestern sausage traditions, takes a look at how tubesteaks have shaped the cultures, economy, and cuisines throughout the region. The event runs from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. tomorrow at Kendall College. Cost is $35.

A more informal group is the newly formed Globally Intrepid Gourmets (GIG). Their focus is on authentic ethnic dining experiences: what different cultures eat and why they eat it, including the weird, wild and wonderful. In short, the Bourdain approach. GIG's September event will focus on West African cuisine with a visit to Yassa. The event will be held on September 23, cost is $21 and restricted to members of the GIG Meetup Group (a quick perusal of their page shows that the event is nearly sold out).